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Families Count: new section on family work now available

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Families Count 2024 is now available

Projects

Colonel Russell Mann Military, Veteran and Public Safety Personnel Families Research Award

The Vanier Institute of the Family seeks to understand the diversity of families and the complexity of family life. Each year, the Institute acknowledges those who have made a significant contribution to our understanding through their work, their research, their service or support to families in Canada.

Annual awards are voted on annually to honour individuals or organizations that have made a contribution whether a study or a story, leadership or action, ideas or innovation.

The Colonel Russell Mann Military, Veteran and Public Safety Personnel Families Research Award is presented annually by the Institute to recognize and highlight high-quality Canadian research that increases our understanding of military and Veteran family health.


2024 Dr. Samantha Noyek

We are pleased to announce that Samantha Noyek, PhD, a Postdoctoral Fellow at Veterans Affairs Canada, is the 2024 recipient of the Colonel Russell Mann Military, Veteran and Public Safety Personnel Families Research Award.

Her research presentation (poster) was titled “Peer Feedback on the Operational Stress Injury Social Support (OSISS) Program (2013-2018).” Judging took place at the Canadian Institute for Military and Veteran Health Research (CIMVHR) Forum. The judges evaluated presentations based on scientific merit, contributions to the field, and policy and programming implications in the Canadian context.

Look for a profile of this research in a Researcher Spotlight in the new year.

2022 Dr. Kamaldeep Gill

Kamaldeep Gill, PhD, is the recipient of the 2022 Colonel Russell Mann Military, Veteran and Public Safety Personnel Families Research Award.

This award is delivered annually at Canadian Institute for Military and Veteran Health Research (CIMVHR) Forum. The judges evaluated presentations based on innovation and policy implications in the Canadian context.

In the 2022 Forum, the judging panel was particularly impressed with her presentation A Systematic Review of Suicidality amongst Military Family Members: Prevalence and Associated Factors.

Dr. Gill’s work is an important contribution to the national understanding of the health risks that military and Veteran families encounter.


2021 Lynda Manser

Lynda Manser is recognized for her study The State of Military Families in Canada: A Scoping Review and for Relocation Experiences: The Experiences of Military Families with Relocations Due to Postings – Survey Results, as well as for her subsequent knowledge mobilization efforts. This research, along with her work on Services for Military and Veteran Families: The 2020+ Strategic Framework, are important contributions to the national understanding of military and Veteran families.

The State of Military Families in Canada: A Scoping Review, published in August 2020, brings together the most recent Canadian research consisting of 72 articles and reports to identify the issues currently facing Canadian military families. Her work finds three common military journey challenges (geographical relocations due to postings; absences from family due to operational tempo; and the risk of operational illness, injury or death), as well as three family journey challenges (personal well-being and mental health; financial stress; and intimate partner relationships).

While most families report handling these challenges, Ms. Manser writes, “For those who struggle, access to systems of care and supports could enhance their resilience to manage these transitional challenges.” The study therefore helps to inform how services can adapt and align with the unique and diverse realities of military family life.


2019 Dr. Valerie Wood

Valerie Wood, PhD, Queen’s University, as the lead author of Reunited, but He’s Not Meeting My Needs: Spouses’ Attachment Anxiety and Conflict Post-Deployment – a study on spousal reactions to military deployment separations and reunions.


2018 Dr. Deborah Norris

Deborah Norris, PhD, Mount Saint Vincent University, as the lead author of an environmental scan of programs and services that focus on resilience and resiliency for military families in Canada, Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom.


2017 Dr. Alyson L. Mahar

Alyson L. Mahar, PhD, Queen’s University, for her research A Comparison of Mental Health Services Use in Older Dependants and Spouses of Service Personnel in the Canadian Armed Forces to Age and Sex Matched Civilian Comparison Cohort with Cramm, H., PhD; Whitehead, M., MStat; Groome, P., PhD; Kurdyak, P., MD, PhD; Aiken, A.B., PhD.


2016 Dr. Heidi Cramm

Heidi Cramm, PhD, Queen’s University, and her team, Dr. Garth Smith, Dr. Dawa Samdup, Ms. Ashley Williams and Ms. Lucia Ruhland, for their work Navigating Healthcare Systems for Military-connected Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Qualitative Study of Military Families Experiencing Mandatory Relocation.


2015 Dr. Alla Skomorovsky

Dr. Alla Skomorovsky, DND, for her presentation Work–Family Conflict and Well-being among Single Parents in CAF: The Role of Coping.